I'm worried and devesated about my sow :(

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Lessie

Lessie

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I was absolutely devastated when I found our cocker spaniel in their pen and he must have attacked one of my piggies :...:...

As my sow was limping badly and got a cut below one of her eys. I was really upset and distraught and it was my fault for not checking what our cocker was doing.

I am just really worried and angry with myself at the moment - she is going to the vets this afternoon - that was the earliest time available. This happened last night.

I took her into the house and put her in our big plastic box for her to sleep in overnight. So I kept a close eye on her last night - she's not touched her food - as I'm sure she's still in shock.

She has not cried in agony when I touched her legs and picked her up - she's seems to be okay to be handled however she's not moving - she just lay there leaning on one side - without putting pressure on one of her foot. :...

I am just devastated really because we've had her for 4 years and before we had our cocker and he was fine with her for the past 3 years. I just can't believe this has happened. I know its not his fault because its in his nature however I' am shocked.

I'm just hoping and praying she will be okay and is not suffering. :...8...

Please send some vibes for her and I am really sorry for letting this happen - she did not deserve this - she is a real darling. :...

My parents said I should not be blaming myself and it was not my fault. Also our cocker knows he should've not done that and its not our fault for trusting him going outside. But I can't help it feeling down, upset and being angry at myself grrrr:...

Sorry this is long - i just needed to get this off my chest.
 
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Sometimes these things just "happen", sometimes you can't have done anything different to prevent it. I'm sorry it did happen, I will keep my fingers crossed that your piggie will be okay. *Hugs* to you, please try not to blame yourself. xx
 
Lessie - i am so sorry about your news - don't blame yourself and thank you for posting this - it may help another piggie, if you see what i mean. Finger's crossed and i will be thinking of you both.:(
 
Please do not blame yourself as these things do happen. I am keeping my fingers crossed for your piggy and hope that her vet visit goes well. Until then, keep her warm and comfortable. (((hugs))) xx
 
It isn't the Spaniel's fault and blaming or punishing him/her will only upset and confuse the dog and make you feel badly toward the dog. On the same leaf, you are not to blame - things happen and you're responding to them and that's good. Focus on getting your girl well, she's had an incredible shock and deserves some TLC to recover.

I know you won't want to pester her, but if she isn't eating you really need to get her to eat as soon as possible. Guinea pigs must keep food running through their digestive system to prevent stasis which results in death. You can try by offering her treats she loves but normally doesn't get or, preferably, by syringing food and water into her (force feeding.) She must, must, must eat.

When you return from the vet, make sure you come back with at least antibiotics and metacam. The latter is a pain medication which is extremely effective in guinea pigs; an alternative you can use for now is calpol to make her feel more comfortable and perhaps a little more inclined to eat. You can also ask them to SubQ fluid into her - especially if she hasn't drank all night. Fluid is necessary to keep her hydrated and is important is she is in shock and also to keep her GI tract flowing.

Keep her warm and quiet, like you're doing - and make sure she can breathe in the plastic tub. Spend time with her, talk to her and get her to eat and drink until the vet appointment.

Hand/Force feeding guide...
http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html
Pain management...
http://www.guinealynx.info/pain.html

remember guinea pigs are prey animals; for her to be so unresponsive is a critical sign as she will try to hide her symptoms from you.

Good luck at the vet.
 
teadragon said:
It isn't the Spaniel's fault and blaming or punishing him/her will only upset and confuse the dog and make you feel badly toward the dog. On the same leaf, you are not to blame - things happen and you're responding to them and that's good. Focus on getting your girl well, she's had an incredible shock and deserves some TLC to recover.

I know you won't want to pester her, but if she isn't eating you really need to get her to eat as soon as possible. Guinea pigs must keep food running through their digestive system to prevent stasis which results in death. You can try by offering her treats she loves but normally doesn't get or, preferably, by syringing food and water into her (force feeding.) She must, must, must eat.

When you return from the vet, make sure you come back with at least antibiotics and metacam. The latter is a pain medication which is extremely effective in guinea pigs; an alternative you can use for now is calpol to make her feel more comfortable and perhaps a little more inclined to eat. You can also ask them to SubQ fluid into her - especially if she hasn't drank all night. Fluid is necessary to keep her hydrated and is important is she is in shock and also to keep her GI tract flowing.

Keep her warm and quiet, like you're doing - and make sure she can breathe in the plastic tub. Spend time with her, talk to her and get her to eat and drink until the vet appointment.

Hand/Force feeding guide...
http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html
Pain management...
http://www.guinealynx.info/pain.html

remember guinea pigs are prey animals; for her to be so unresponsive is a critical sign as she will try to hide her symptoms from you.

Good luck at the vet.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply and everyone else's. I agree with you 100% about the spaniel - it is not his fault and he was not punished. It was my fault simple as that.

I am so pleased and thankful she has just eaten some timothy hay, grapes and celery. As I am constantly checking on her. I am also really grateful that she's recovered from the shock as most shocks are fatal for piggies. Thats why I was up all night last night/morning constantly checking on her.

As attached this is what she is currently accommodating in - as we do not have any indoor cage. It is a reasonable size and I didn;t want her to move too much - she has got blankets, megazorb, hay, water bowl, food bowl in her crate as you can see.
Picture108.jpg


She is currently in her hay bedding resting.

My priority right now and for the next few days now is to get her better and to recover and not letting her suffer. I can't wait to take her to the vets - the waiting is killing me.:...
 
What a horrid shock for you! I agree with the others, sometimes unfortunately we make mistakes and things do happen but you are taking great care of her. Teadragon has posted some wonderful advice, maybe jot down the medication and bring to the vets with you as sometimes with the worry etc, we forget to ask the vet something :...

Good luck and keep us updated x
 
I hope your little girl is ok & all goes well at the vets. Glad she is eating now too xx
Please don't blame yourself or the dog, as people have said before - it's one of those things that we can all learn from xx
 
i can understand how you are feeling my boy killed my piggy a while ago:( and i also have a cocker spaniel too who isnt allowed near the piggies because she wants to eat them,
I'm not saying cockers are bad i think its just natural and not many people would ever suspect this would happen,
i truly hope your piggy is ok and just by what you have said it sounds like your dog may have been playing to roughly because if she wanted to kill her she would have,
unfortunantly when a dog gets the taste for blood it is likely to happen again so it may be a good idea to look at housing them inside or seriously doggy proofing your hutch,i am very sorry this has happened to you and i hope the vet visit goes ok,lots of love from me and the piggies x
 
Vet news

Hi everyone

Again thank you so much for your kind and helpful replies.

It was what I predicted - and that is she's got a fracture on her front right leg. So it's basically broken and that explains why she is lifting her leg up and resting them.

Her eyes are fine - just need to clean them if there's anymore leaks.

Everything else is fine and her back legs are fine.

Thankfully the vet has not mentioned anything about putting her to sleep - I would be heartbroken if that was the case.

She's has given me painkillers for her 2 x a day and see how she responds to it and whether if her leg will eventually get better and possibly heal its self.
I have to do this process for the next 3 days.

On Monday we will be going back to the vets - for a check up and to see how her leg is - if there is no improvements the best choice is to amputate her front right leg. Since there are no other ways to heal it and it would not be fair for her to suffer.

I was expecting this because of her size as its not simple to apply plaster on broken bones.

So its now the case of wait and see. She's been good as gold and I'm so proud of her as she recovered over night - and thankfully she did not die from shock.

I will be keeping her indoors until Monday - and she's got to be kept in a flat accommodation and to be separated from Barney in case he bothers her or cause any further health problems according to the Vets. Lastly she's allowed to go on the grass for some fresh air as long as the pen is small and limited so she does not have to move about a lot.

She is currently outside in her run - happily munching the grass with food bowl, hay, water bowl near by.

I've just got to make sure that she's receives lots of fluids and make sure she eats.

Fingers cross

Thank-you for all of your support and care.
 
I have heard of a piggy who broke a leg and it was `bandaged up` for 6 weeks and it healed fine....did the vet xray? If it is broken in more than one place or too high up on the leg, maybe this is why but amputation seems a little extreme! Lets hope that won't be necessary :)
 
In 2000 I had a 5 week old baby who was dropped by a horrible boy at my school. Little Oreo broke his leg at the joint on his back leg. The vet said it was the worst place to break it. It was suggested that he was PTS because it would cost too much to fix and that amputation was the next best thing. Our regular vet set his leg and bandaged him up and he was fine. Did your vet set your piggies leg and bandage it with a splint? That would be the best thing, don't worry about amputation too much, it shouldn't need to come to that if your vet is any good. Hope she gets better soon xx>>>
 
fingers crossed for you that she'll be ok then :)

I had a wake up call with ours today. they were out in their run on the grass and our cat just ignores them or just sits there watching. I looked out of the patio doors to check them and a fox was on top of the run! They didn't seem to bother though and were just looking at her.
Why are piggies seeming not bothered about things that will eat them but run away from me when I handle them and feed them every day?
 
Sat - updates

Hi everyone,

Again thank-you for your kind replies.

I am pleased to see that Revolver's appetite is back to normal as last night she was eating a lot of timothy hay and her mix :))

She is moving around more than usual which is good however she still keeps her leg up.

I am also really pleased with her when she takes her painkillers - she loves it for some reason - keeps licking the syringe!

Fingers cross she's on her way to recovery.

Thank-you for all of your support - it really has helped me a lot. xx>>>

Also I will let you all know the updates and the vets decisions on Monday.
 
That is really good news :)

Metacam is supposed to taste really nice which is why she likes it....baytril antibiotic is another story though :))
 
Update!

Hey

I am over the moon and absolutely relieved. I took her to the vets this morning as you all know - I had a different vet this time, it was the same man that we usually have - much older and more experienced.

Anyway he said there is no need for amputation. Since she is already keeping her leg up and letting it heal without any problem. She is not in pain - did not make any unusual noises or screamed, has not bitten anyone whilst being touched and prodded. He said her leg is not floppy, all over the place and she is not dragging it at all.

So he said we've just got to let it heal for the next 3-4 weeks and keep an eye on her. Also I've got to give her painkillers for 1 more week. Afterward she how she'll cope.

I am so happy and relieved. He said it's nothing to worry about since she is eating, drinking. going to the toilets, eating grass, and getting used to moving around with her front leg up.

Now Barney is pleased to see her! But I've got to put her in a separate run since she needs a small amount of space to prevent making her leg(s) worse. However Barney and Revolver can interact easily as I've put her pen inside Barney's run.

She can also now go back into her hutch with Barney with the Ramp down so they are both on one level.

Thank-you so much for all of your kind words and supports. I have been incredibly upset and down for the past few days and been up all night watching her, consequently as a result I've been absolutely exhausted and ill. However now I am so relieved and happy. Of course I will keep a close eye on her, and I'm sure she will pull this through as she is a fighter.;)

:))
 
(I think she has a really caring guinea pig mum - you - so she will be fine because you'll keep a close eye on her!) I am very pleased that she's getting better nicely and I hope there are no problems while she gets well.
 
I'm truly sorry i've just seen this thread........OMG what you've been thru in the past few days........HUGS xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
You did the best thing in getting her to the vets so quickly!
well done xx>>>xx>>>
Bless her i hope little Revolver recovers quickly and can return to her mate Barney xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x)x)x)
 
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